Beyond the Shore presents: How Wild from KALW

Beyond the Shore - Michigan Public

A podcast exploring how climate change, human impact, and indigenous history are reshaping the concept of wilderness. The episode follows a journey to a fire-ravaged sequoia grove in California, questioning whether restoration efforts align with wilderness ideals.

Key takeaways

• Wilderness is not untouched; it's shaped by human and indigenous presence.
• Climate change and severe fires challenge the idea of natural wilderness.
• Restoration efforts in protected areas face legal and ethical dilemmas.

Transcript preview

One of the world's most famous art detectives was on the hunt for a stolen Van Gogh. He turned to an unlikely source for help. You have born soccer place, born teachers, born policemen, I'm a born burger. On the Sunday story, how an art thief and an art detective set out to recover a missing masterpiece. Listen now to the Sunday story from the Upfirst Podcast on the NPR app. the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan, the Rock River Canyon Wilderness full of waterfalls and the beautiful remote aisle royal in Lake Superior. But today wilderness areas are changing a lot because of climate change, increased visitation, and new technologies that people are bringing with them on the trail and onto the water. What does that mean for the meaning of wilderness? Today we're sharing a podcast from our friends at K-A-L-W public media that tries to answer that question. In the podcast, journalist, Marissa Ortega Welch explores where the original ideas for wilderness came from and how today's changes are testing the definition of wilderness. In the first episode, Marissa ventures off trail in California's Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park to see a grove of ancient giant Sequoia trees that burned down in a severe fire and learn why park biologists and environmentalists are grappling with how much to try and restore these trees. Both how wild and beyond the shore are proud to be part of the American storytelling collection. To find even more great titles to explore the outdoors this summer with the NPR network. Just search for the American storytelling collection in the NPR app or on Apple Podcasts. My best friend Holly and I have been hiking in the wilderness together for 20 years. We got everything back there. Do you got my pack over you got the rain fly and go. Where's the trail? I don't know. the wind river range in Wyoming. I could have the rain on the blowers is listening in the sunlight. Like litter. This is so pretty. I love being in wilderness. It's my happy place. Away from roads, the pressures of daily life. The only things to think about are hiking and eating. I think you need help with those mangoes. I'll treat you for your sneakers. And just getting to be in a beautiful place where humans and our stuff aren't the dominant features. The official wilderness is an area protected from development set aside by the government to be a place where humans are just visitors. And even though I love visiting these capital W designated wilderness areas, the concept of wilderness itself has always bugged me, because it could be seen as erasing the history of indigenous peoples who were forcibly removed from the land so it could be protected. And it can create this idea that humans are separate from nature. In the last 10 years, Holly and I have noticed a lot of changes to wilderness. There was the year it was so smoky from fires. We couldn't see the mountains that were right in front of us. The year it was such a big winter, we couldn't get over mountain passes because of all the snow hanging on into the summer. The next year there was so little snow that the creeks had dried up and we had to carry drinking water for miles. There was the time we got to a view and looking out across the forest it seemed every third tree was brown instead of green, killed by beetles that are spreading because of drought and a lack of fire. It's not just physical changes. I've seen more people on the trail. I bring my phone now to take pictures but also I've had cell service in some places miles from a road. Some of the changes I've seen are really good. Like how the internet is helping more people learn about wilderness and get outside. But good or bad, the meaning of wilderness is changing. The definition is being tested. If it isn't a place to unplug in a land untouched by humans, and if it never was, what does that mean for these physical places we call wilderness? And what does that mean for us as humans if there's no place outside our impact? No separation between humans and nature. I'm a former wilderness. I'm Marissa Ortega Welch, and this is Howe Wild, a podcast about wilderness, how it's changing, and what that says about us as humans. In the next six episodes, we're going to be hiking through wilderness areas around the west. If you've never been to wilderness, if you're not a hiker, don't worry. I'm a former wilderness guide, trained in backcountry first aid. I'm good at reading maps. If you've backpacked a lot, get ready because we might be unpacking some of the assumptions you've brought with you. That's what I've been doing myself the last few years. So lace up your boots, bring extra water, and don't forget snacks. Because the first place we're going is on a hike that I've been warned many times is hard. This is episode one, untrammeled. Where the trail ends, the official trail is down here. And then we start on these. zag going up. We're in California Sequoia National Park and we're headed off trail to a remote rugged corner which is kind of the whole point. And I can actually pull out a math so. This is the person I'm relying on not to get us lost and then will you say your name and your title? Yeah this is Andrew Bishop I'm the restoration ecologist at Sequoian Kings Canyon National Park. I'm excited. Yeah, same here. And nervous. We should be aware that in the lower elevation part of this hike there's a good potential for a roundabout. Plus there's poison oak and these annoying flies that keep getting in our face. The sunglasses are helping for the face flies. Oh good. Just for the record. I wouldn't be putting up with all this if I wasn't getting to see something today that not a lot of people have seen. It's 2022. And we're heading to board camp. The name of a grove of giant sequo. that burned two years before in the Castle Fire. Giant Sequoias, the biggest trees on earth, only live here in California. And nearly half are found in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks. But since 2020, severe fires burned up to a fifth of the world's giant Sequoias. Some scientists are worried that we could face a future with no giant Sequoias in Sequoia National Park. to replant giant Sequoias in the wilderness. Other people say that goes against the very definition of wilderness. The debate is really around the question, what is natural and how much should humans intervene? That's why we're here today. Almost as soon as we leave the trailhead, we're in what's called the John Krebs wilderness. Yeah, well let's pause if we do. I love those signs. It's like nothing says wilderness like a sign. The fact that we're in an area designated as capital W wilderness areas are the most protected public lands in the US. Maybe you've been to Yosemite Valley, you drove there or took the bus to see Yosemite Falls. Maybe you've just seen pictures. It's beautiful, but the valley isn't technically wilderness. If you headed out on the trail away from the roads, within a few miles, you'd